Thomas Is Wales's Answer To Dallaglio

Gareth Llewellyn says Wales now have their version of England back row man Lawrence Dallaglio.

Llewellyn, Wales' most senior player and himself a veteran of 82 caps, believes youngster Jonathan Thomas can emulate the former England captain and British Lions stalwart.

Thomas was most people's man-of-the-match in only his fifth international appearance against New Zealand last week - he also leads the WRU website MOTM poll (www.wru.co.uk) with 60 per cent of the votes - and he is a hot tip for a starting spot against England and Dallaglio.

"He's a great athlete and he's going to be a fantastic player, there's a lot of Lawrence Dallaglio about him really," said the Wales vice-captain.

"He's still a young man and still to develop physically so he'll only get better, but he's got the raw material there."

And Llewellyn knows all about what England have to offer, having come up against the 'auld enemy' 11 times in an international career that began in 1989.

"I think up front is where the game will be won and lost, it's the way England play the game," said Llewellyn.

"They're going to try to dominate up front and if they do that then it will allow their backs to play."

The Ospreys lock also believes England have been getting a taste of their own medicine in the World Cup so far with teams across the board becoming much more competitive at the breakdown.

"I think it's an area of the game that teams have tightened up on and there's a lot of training drills on slowing the ball down and trying to pinch ball at the breakdown," he added.

"England have been particularly good at it themselves when we've played against them. They know how the rest of us feel now."

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